Florida Region of USA Volleyball announces the 2020 Florida Pro Best of The Beach Volleyball Tournament
Eustis, FL – The Florida Region of USA Volleyball is proud to announce the 2020 Florida Pro Best of The Beach Tournament that will be held on November 6-8, 2020 at Hickory Point Beach in Tavares, FL. Hickory Point Beach is a 21-court venue that has hosted more than sixty major beach volleyball events (regional, national and international) since opening in 2014, but the Florida Best of The Beach event is the first of its kind for the area that will feature some of the nation’s top professional beach volleyball athletes.
Lake County Florida Commissioner, Tim Sullivan stated, “The Lake County community is excited to host the nation’s top professional beach volleyball athletes at Hickory Point Beach. We welcome all visitors to experience all that ‘Real Florida. Real Close’ has to offer, in addition to the great competition.”
This tournament will be a King/Queen format. Each athlete will register individually and will be placed in a pool based on their USA Volleyball ranking points heading into the event. Each athlete will play with everyone in their pool and the athlete with the best record at the end of the pool moves on to the next day. At the end of Friday, the top four qualifier athletes will advance to Saturday’s main draw. At the end of Saturday, winners from the pools will have the opportunity to choose a partner from the 2nd-4th place teams from all pools to compete with them in the bracket on Sunday.
“I am excited to see the Florida region of USA Volleyball staging a world-class event with several of the top beach volleyball players in America planning to participate,” commented Jamie Davis, President and CEO of USA Volleyball. “Since the outbreak of COVID-19, much of the international volleyball calendar has been cancelled. The Florida Pro Best of the Beach tournament will provide our USA Volleyball athletes with a great vehicle to earn prize money and compete against the world’s top players as they prepare for the 2020ne Tokyo Olympic Games.”
The event will offer $30K in prize money ($15K per gender) and will payout to 16th place. In addition to the prize money, the event will also include other amenities for the athletes: an air-conditioned medical room onsite with an experienced team (ATC and LMT services), private showers and locker rooms, air- conditioned athlete VIP area, live streaming of the four competition courts, paid officials for all matches and a player’s party at a nearby location on Saturday night.
Melissa Dawson, President of Molten USA stated: “Molten USA is incredibly fortunate to have been a long- standing partner with the Florida Region of USA Volleyball and we are thrilled to see the launch of their new Pro “Best of the Beach Event” coming in November of 2020. Now, more than ever, volleyball players, coaches and fans alike can’t wait for the return to sport. The “Best of the Beach” event complemented with the use of the Molten BV5000 beach volleyball will provide incredible athletes with the venue to display and showcase all of their talents.”
The schedule of events is as follows:
Friday, November 6th – Qualifier (Pool Play)
Saturday, November 7th – Main Draw Day 1 (Pool Play)
Saturday, November 7th (Night) – Partner selection for the Main Draw brackets will be announced! Sunday, November 8th – Main Draw Day 2 (Bracket Play)
The event will be open to spectators and will follow CDC & State guidelines regarding event safety protocols. Temperature checks will be conducted for everyone upon arrival each day, hand sanitation stations will be readily available around the complex, all tents will be spaced six feet apart and attendees will be required to wear a face mask when cheering or not socially distanced to ensure everyone’s safety. Participating athletes will complete a daily medical questionnaire and complete a daily screening process with the medical team before competing. Safety guidelines will be strictly enforced during the event.
Steve Bishop, the Executive Director and President of the Florida Region of USA Volleyball and the Beach Development Board Rep for USA Volleyball, who will also serve as the event director commented, “We are honored to be in a position to host this professional level event in Central Florida during a time when there are very few major volleyball events on the schedule. We are also blessed to have such great partners and a world-class venue at Hickory Point Beach in partnership with Lake County. The goal is to create a unique, safe and notable event for top beach athletes while providing a great spectator experience for the larger volleyball community. Another exciting component we are exploring is adding a Beach ParaVolley exhibition match or two during the weekend to highlight our up and coming ParaBeach athletes in the USA. We’ll have more information on everything as it is finalized in the coming days. We look forward to seeing everyone in Florida this November.”
Additional information on the event and a current list of the pro athletes that have accepted the initial invitation can be found here: www.floridavolleyball.org/florida-pro-best-of-the-beach.
About Florida Region of USA Volleyball:
The Florida Region of USA Volleyball is a 501c3 non-profit that began operations in the 1960’s and was officially incorporated in 1982 to promote the sport of volleyball and to create competitive playing opportunities for volleyball enthusiasts of all ages throughout the State of Florida. The Florida Region is one of the 40 regional volleyball associations under the umbrella of USA Volleyball and currently serves 14,500 members. Indoor, outdoor and ParaVolley programming is available for adults, juniors, coaches and officials. The Florida Region of USA Volleyball is headquartered in Eustis, FL and manages the 21-court Hickory Point Beach Sand Volleyball Complex in Tavares, FL. Additional information on the Florida Region can be found at: www.FloridaVolleyball.org.